My younger sister, Samantha, and her husband do an incredible amount of work for Samaritan’s Purse – a charity dedicated to providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Not only do they collect and deliver shoeboxes overseas, they respond in a distinctly Christian way to issues facing people in the places where they work (issues like water and sanitation, HIV and AIDS, sustainable livelihoods along with disasters and emergencies) and they also get involved with fundraising.
Samantha, by her own admission, had been considering a life challenge for some time:
“I have felt the urge to undertake a life challenge for some time now whilst being certain that I did not want the results and outcome to be purely for my own benefit. So – when the ConquerKili invite came round I had absolutely no hesitation in responding immediately – timing, level of challenge, cause and “calling” all slotted into place.”
Along with Eddie Taylor, Lynne Dejoodt, Beth Short and Rachel Harris, she started to train for the 6 day, 21 mile hike. On 4th October they arrived in Nairobi, visiting the slums in Kibera, where the funds raised will be used to help educate people about running their own small businesses so they become self sufficient.
Melons ‘street’, Kibera Slums, Nairobi
Then began the climb – it was, as Sam said, ‘the hardest thing I have ever done” bar none. You can read about the intrepid 5 and their hike up Kilimanjaro on the Samaritan’s Purse website.
Sam (in the pink hat) and her fellow hikers.
After nearly 10 days away it was an enormous relief to have her home. Her husband, Paul to celebrate the success of the climb and her safe return organised a surprise party, inviting close friends and family. It was a lovely idea and I wanted to give her something memorable and personal as a way of congratulations on her achievement. After about half an hour, it suddenly dawned on me … a personal WordArt! Now, I have done Wordarts for all sorts of occasions but never for something like this. I set to work and produced this about an hour or so later …
I was chuffed with the result and Sam was delighted with it. There will be times when she will reflect on her trip for many, many years to come – I hope this will serve as a gentle reminder when the old grey matter sets in. In the meantime, I hope she hangs this somewhere where all the visitors to her house can see it and remark on her amazing achievement.
If you are interested in commissioning a keepsake like this one, go to the SHOP or contact me